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Wondering how to get your head around the world of cybersecurity? Get to know the experts in the field to stay on top of the latest trends.
Every October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, but this year is particularly important because of the looming regulatory frameworks that are just around the corner.
The NIS2 Directive, which will expand the scope of the existing Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive, aims to increase the cybersecurity requirements imposed on companies with new standards and reporting rules. The deadline for EU member states to transpose the NIS2 Directive into applicable, national law is 17 October 2024.
Meanwhile, the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), will be effective from January 2025 and mandates additional criteria across various domains, including risk management, testing, reporting and third-party oversight.
It’s understandably a lot for any person or business leader to get their head around, all the while ensuring that everyday cyber hygiene is maintained. With all this in mind, being familiar with experts in the industry is a great way to stay on top of the constantly evolving cybersecurity sector. But where should you start?
Jenny Radcliffe
A self-professed ‘people hacker’, Jenny Radcliffe is passionate about shining a light on social engineering and the role it plays in cyberattacks.
She is a regular keynote speaker at international major conferences, as well as leading security and corporate events, and hosts The Human Factor, a podcast in which she interviews guests about all elements of security. She has recently been nominated for the ‘Godmother of Cybersecurity’ award at the 2024 Security Serious Unsung Heroes Awards.
In a recent interview with SiliconRepublic.com, Radcliffe spoke about her career, the types of scams that people can fall for and how AI and deepfakes are changing the security landscape.
Brian Honan
Irish cyber industry veteran Brian Honan is the founder of BH Consulting and an internationally recognised expert on cybersecurity.
Honan has acted as a special advisor to Europol’s Cybercrime Centre (EC3), he is the founder of Ireland’s first Computer Security Incident Response Team – known as IRISS-CERT – and been inducted into the Infosecurity Europe Hall of Fame.
He is also a member of the advisory board of several innovative security companies and was recently appointed the new chair of Cyber Ireland. He regularly speaks about issues effecting the industry and spoke on the For Tech’s Sake podcast about not blaming humans for cybersecurity breaches.
Antara Jha
Having graduated with a law degree from Banaras Hindu University in India, Jha has honed her expertise in the intricacies of cyberlaw.
She has written several articles dissecting the intersections between law, technology and society. She is also a prominent speaker in the cyberlaw space, having spoken at several events and conferences, including TEDx talks and the 76th UN president’s assembly.
Jha has been nominated for several awards at the 2024 Security Serious Unsung Heroes Awards, including the cyber writer award and the data guardian award.
Mark Cummins
One half of the founding team of Zero Days along with Mark Lane, Mark Cummins is a passionate educator in the world of cyber.
Zero Days organises and promotes cybersecurity challenges, commonly known as capture-the-flag (CTF) events, including the Irish College’s Cyber-Security Challenge, Cyber-Schools, and the Irish team selection and training for the European Cyber Security Challenge.
With more than 20 years of experience teaching cybersecurity, Cummins is the programme chair of digital forensics and cybersecurity at Technological University Dublin and has also been nominated for best educator at the 2024 Security Serious Unsung Heroes Awards.
Jennifer Cox
Jennifer Cox is the director for Ireland at Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) UK and Ireland, and a security engineering manager at Tenable.
Cox is a renowned advocate for diversity in tech, having been listed as a finalist for several awards, including Women in Tech Europe, Cyberwoman of the World Global Awards and The Stevie Awards for Women in Business.
Cox has also frequently spoke and written about the importance of having more women working within the cybersecurity industry.
Prof Kevin Curran
With nearly 30 years’ experience as a cybersecurity researcher, Kevin Curran is professor of cybersecurity and co-executive director of the legal innovation centre at Ulster University.
Curran has authored several books, is the recipient of various patents, and has advised the British Computer Society on computer industry standards. He is also globally recognised as a top security influencer and sits on the advisory group of the UK Cyber Security Council and the Northern Ireland Civil Service Cyber Leadership Board.
Last year, Curran spoke to SiliconRepublic.com about his research around privacy-preserving technology and how it supports innovation and competitiveness.
Jacky Fox
Jacky Fox is the managing director of Accenture’s security practice in Europe and Ireland as well as vice-chair of Cyber Ireland.
With more than 20 years of experience in the industry, Fox has lectured on cybersecurity in UCD and has spoken at several national and international conferences, including at the World Economic Forum Davos and Interpol. Prior to her time at Accenture, she led the Irish cybersecurity and IT forensic practice in Deloitte.
She was also awarded Security Champion of the Year in Ireland at the Women in IT Awards in 2018 for her contribution to the Irish security industry.
Puneet Kukreja
Puneet Kukreja is the head of cyber at EY Ireland, with more than 20 years of industry experience under his belt.
Among his previous roles is enterprise security programme lead for the whole of the Victorian government in Australia, a senior leader in cyber at Deloitte and interim chief information security officer for the HSE.
Kukreja has also spoken at more than 90 conferences worldwide and last year, spoke to SiliconRepublic.com about the biggest challenges facing the security industry.
Window Snyder
A veteran hacker and cybersecurity expert, Window Snyder is the founder and CEO of security company Thistle Technologies.
Before venturing out on her own, Snyder was a senior security exec at several major brands including Square, Fastly, Mozilla and Intel. She also spent five years at Apple, where she was responsible for security and privacy strategy and features for OS X and iOS.
Snyder was recently awarded this year’s SecDev Cybersecurity Award for Practice by the IEEE Computer Society. The society said she was being recognised for her contributions to software development life cycle security practices and pioneering work in threat modelling.
Toby Lewis
Toby Lewis is the global head of threat analysis at UK cybersecurity company Darktrace and has been working in cybersecurity for almost 20 years.
Before Darktrace, Lewis had spent some of his career in the UK government’s cybersecurity threats response unit, including as the UK National Cyber Security Centre’s deputy technical director for incident management.
Last year, he spoke to SiliconRepublic.com for Future Human: The Series, in which he discussed the evolving landscape of cybersecurity and what the future holds for a more connected world.
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